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No. 7 Harvard Field Hockey (3-1, 0-0 Ivy) kicked off its home opener in Cambridge this past weekend, facing off against both the No. 19 UAlbany Great Danes (4-1) and the No.16 University of Connecticut Huskies (5-1). After defeating both William & Mary and Wake Forest in its first weekend of play, the Harvard team hoped to continue its hot streak on its home turf.

Harvard 2, UAlbany 3 (OT)

On Friday evening, the Crimson hosted its first game of the year on Berylson Field against the UAlbany Great Danes. The Harvard team fell short in the final minutes, giving up a dramatic goal in overtime, ultimately losing 3-2.

At the end of the first half, the game still remained tied at 0-0. Throughout the early phases of the game the Crimson struggled with its shots, recording only one throughout the entire first thirty minutes of play. In comparison, the Great Danes had tallied nine shots by the end of the opening half. Harvard only had one penalty corner in the first half as well, a drastically smaller number than the lower-ranked UAlbany’s five corner penalty chances. Harvard’s defensive unit, spurred by junior goaltender Tessa Shahbo and the 2023 Ivy League Defender of the Year junior Bronte-May Brough, prevented the Great Danes from capitalizing on its many scoring chances. In fact, Shahbo recorded an impressive eight saves during the contest, matching her career high.

Despite being gridlocked through the first period, the Crimson rallied after the halftime break, producing significantly better offensive opportunities in the later quarters of regulation time. Junior forward Kate Oliver opened up the scoring for Harvard, notching the first point of the game in the third quarter. The goal marked the first of the 2024 season for the St. Louis, Mo. native. Unfortunately for the Crimson, Alison Smisdom, UAlbany’s offensive powerhouse, closed the deficit quickly, recording a goal of her own less than a minute later.

In the fourth quarter, Lara Beekhuis lit the lamp for Harvard, slamming a shot past UAlbany’s senior goaltender Lara Behn. The goal was Beekhuis’s second of the year, setting the 2024 Ivy League Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player up for an impressive start to her sophomore season. However, in the 59th minute of play, Smisdom struck again, tying the game for the Great Danes. The senior from Antwerp, Belgium has already recorded nine goals in just five games for UAlbany. Smisdom’s point enabled the Great Danes to force a sudden death overtime in Cambridge.

Smisdom’s scoring streak continued in the 66th minute of play, as she snuck yet another shot past Harvard goaltender Tessa Shahbo. With her third goal of the game, Smisdom successfully secured both a hattrick and an upset win for her UAlbany team. The Great Danes devastated Harvard with its first loss of the season.

“UAlbany is a top 20 team and we knew they would come ready to compete,” said sophomore Sage Piekarski. “Although we showed up physically ready to play, our takeaway from this game was that we needed a bit more emphasis on the mental component of the game.”

While the first game of the weekend didn’t go the team’s way, the Crimson squad was able to rely on that mental fortitude and flip the script against the dynamic UConn Huskies.

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Harvard 3, UConn 2

After its defeat on Friday, the Crimson began to prepare for its contest against an even higher ranked opponent, the University of Connecticut. The Huskies have had an explosive start to their season, going undefeated prior to facing Harvard. The team had earned wins against St. Josephs, University of New Hampshire, Cornell, and Brown. The Crimson looked to rebound after its loss against UAlbany, while UConn simultaneously hoped to extend its winning streak.

“Going into the UConn game, there was a real team emphasis on compartmentalizing and putting everything aside so we could enter the UConn match totally present and focused on our goals,” Piekarski explained. “Reflecting on our UAlbany game, we were not happy with our overall performance, the most important thing was that we learned from that mistake early in our season and could quickly fix it.”

The teams clashed on Berylson Field on Sunday. The contest ended with a 3-2 Harvard win.

The Crimson’s Piekarski scored the first goal of the game, assisted by a beautiful pass from Brough. Piekarski nailed her shot only eight minutes into the first quarter, giving Harvard an early advantage. Unlike its game against UAlbany, the Crimson dominated the shooting statistics, recording 14 in comparison to the Huskies' six. Harvard also had considerable accuracy, getting ten of its 14 shots onto UConn’s net. Meanwhile, the Huskies were only able to get four shots on goal throughout the entire game.

Despite UConn’s lack of shots, Juul Sauer, the Huskies’ first year forward, was able to tally her sixth goal of the year against Harvard in the 20th minute of play. Four minutes later, Harvard’s Beekhuis powerfully responded with a goal of her own, capitalizing on a pass from freshman Martha Le Huray and putting the Crimson back ahead.

After the halftime break, junior Kitty Chapple further extended Harvard’s lead to 3-1, netting her first goal of the 2024 season. Although the Crimson deepened the lead and prevented the Huskies from getting any shots in the third quarter, a pivotal moment of the game presented itself in the fourth quarter. Sauer earned herself a breakaway, sailing the ball past Shahbo and lighting up the scoreboard again for the Huskies. Sauer’s goal, scored in the final ten minutes of play, ignited the possible threat of a Huskies comeback. However, Harvard’s defense was relentless, and excelled through the final whistle, protecting the lead and securing the win.

After the mixed-bag weekend, Harvard is 3-1 on the season and preparing for upcoming inter-Ivy League play. On Sept. 21, the Crimson will travel to Hanover, NH to take on Dartmouth (1-3), its first intra-league opponent of the season. The team will then head further north to Burlington, VT to play against the University of Vermont Catamounts.

“As a team, we have set high goals for this season – winning the Ivy League Tournament again and then moving on to the NCAA Tournament,” Piekarski added. “To get there, our team philosophy is to just take it one game at a time and focus on doing all of the little things right.”

Tune in on Saturday to watch Harvard take on the Dartmouth Big Green at 12:00 pm EST on ESPN+.

—Staff writer Isabel Smail can be reached at isabel.smail@thecrimson.com